Sailor Moon Celestial Chapter 1: The New School
by Ghost Mommy Lady
Summary: This is an AU fan fic, taking off from the end of the final episode of the anime. You will get to meet Serenity's twin brother, a whole group of new warriors, and an ancient evil that has finally broken the seal placed on its power. Rating is there for


_The barrier, long maintained by the power of the Silver Crystal, shattered under a concerted attack from those held prisoner on the Sun. Several people emerged from the shards of the broken barrier to stand and stare out at the universe. "The Moon is silent, father," a red-haired woman said softly. "I hear no life, no pulse of living from its barren surface."_

"_The Dark Kingdom succeeded in destroying Serenity?" a white-haired man asked in surprise._

"_The Queen is dead, but I sense my brother and sister," the red-haired woman said. "They, and those that protected them, are living on Earth."_

"_So much time has passed, Your Majesty, that I wonder if they still remember us," a green-haired youth said hesitantly._

"_I doubt they do," the white-haired man said. His smile was twisted. "But soon, the humans and those pitiful remnants of a broken kingdom will remember us…as we _destroy_ them." His laughter was terrible and cruel._

Ariadne Nikos sat up in bed, her green hair falling into her eyes. The cruel laughter followed her into the waking world. She shuddered and pushed her blankets off her bed. She got to her feet and walked over to the double doors that opened out onto the balcony overlooking the vast expanse of her father's estate.

"Aria?" Her father walked into the room. "I heard you cry out. What's wrong?"

"They're awake, father," Aria said. Her father, like her, was an old warrior from an age long past reborn to the modern world. "They shattered the barrier. They know the princess is alive. The Senshi can't protect her from the Sun Kingdom, especially considering Serenity will be more susceptible to their attacks."

"I know," General Nikos said. He put an arm around her shoulders. "Are you sure you still want to go through with this exchange program?"

"They're in Japan," Aria said. "If I'm there, maybe I can help prevent _this_ world from dying like the Moon Kingdom did."

"It wasn't your fault back then, Aria, and if they fall, it won't be your fault now," her father said.

"I know," Aria said with a sigh. "But I can't just stay here, knowing what I do, and leave them to their fate."

"I would think less of you if you did," General Nikos said bluntly. "Do you think you'll be able to protect them?"

"The Celestial Guardians have to protect the world from the Sun Kingdom," Aria said. "This includes preserving what's left of the old Royal Families. Protecting the worlds has always been our duty, though many of us forgot that in the wake of the Senshi Wars."

"Well, I will wish you luck, then." Her father hugged her tight. "If you need me, you know I will come."

"If I've got the smallest chance of redeeming my little brother, I'll need you, father," Aria said. General Nikos kissed her on the forehead and left the room. Aria spent the rest of the night staring to the east.

"Usa, you're going to be late if you don't hurry!" Tsukino Ikuko was watching the clock as she handed her husband his breakfast. "If you miss the bus, you'll miss your first class!"

"I'm coming, mama," Tsukino Usagi called. "Besides, classes start a little late today since we all have to get our schedules before we can meet our teachers." She ran down the stairs, her long golden hair twisted into its usual style of two buns with the ponytails hanging down. Instead of a uniform, Usagi was wearing a brand new dress made of dark pink fabric with a trim of elegant and understated white lace. "How do I look?" she asked, twirling around.

"You look very nice," her mother said. She handed her daughter a piece of toast. "Here. You'll need some energy to get you to the bus stop."

"Thanks mom," Usagi said. She grabbed up her book bag and her lunch, stuffed the toast into her mouth, and hugged her father. She drank her orange juice and took a thermos of tea for later. She slid her feet into her shoes and ran out the door, waving as she went.

She got down to the corner and found that her friends were already waiting for her at the bus stop. Aino Minako's golden hair was twisted up into a braid, her normal red ribbon tied around the bottom. She was dressed in a very stylish orange dress. Her cat Artemis was sitting at her feet. Luna, Usagi's cat, finally caught up with her. The little black cat went over and joined Artemis. "Good morning, Usagi," Minako said with a cheerful smile.

Kino Makoto, in a cream colored blouse and a sugar pink skirt, was talking with Mizuno Ami, who was dressed in a simple pale blue dress. They turned and waved to Usagi. "We thought we would come walk with you to the bus stop," Ami explained.

"That's great," Usagi said. "Naru's still going to Juuban High, and I was a little nervous about going alone on my first day."

"I just wish Rei had accepted the offer," Makoto said. "Then all of us could have gone together."

"Did you hear whether the others are going?" Usagi asked as the four girls started down the road. The two cats trailed along behind.

"I know that Haruka and Michiru are," Ami said. "They both like the music program at the progressive school better than the one at Mugen Gakuen. Hotaru is still at elementary school with Chibi Usa, and Setsuna is taking a few classes at the university."

"Did you hear the other news about the progressive school?" Makoto asked curiously.

"What's that?" Usagi asked curiously.

"There are some students coming in from various colleges and tech schools from the region," Makoto said. "There are even a group of exchange students that have been attending from all over the world coming in to do some teaching." She smiled. "One of the Home Ec teachers is an old friend of my parents. She keeps track of me and when she found out I was coming to Juuban Progressive Academy, she started telling me all the stuff that's going to be going on."

"I also heard that we have to take Math, Science, History, and Japanese Language," Minako said. "But we get to choose what kind of Math and Science we want, and that we also get something like three or four other classes of our choice."

"My parents think I should take Choir," Usagi said. "We were looking at the class catalogue last night. I want to take Theater Arts, or one of the dance classes. The dance classes are after school, and Luna says they might interfere in training."

"I don't think it'll hurt to take an hour out of our day for dance class," Minako said thoughtfully. "I really want to take one too."

"I'm taking a Home Ec class that they have that teaches international cooking," Makoto said. "I think it'll be fun to learn how to cook stuff from other countries."

"I'm going to take their Computer Science course," Ami said. "They also have a class where you can work with the school nurse for an hour. I'm thinking of doing that as well."

"I think that would be great for you," Minako said.

"Here's the bus stop," Usagi said. "Anyone know how many students are at the Progressive Academy?"

"They kept it down to only about 1000 students this year," Makoto said promptly. "The two older classes were called in last week to make their class decisions. The two junior classes are going to have to get their schedules today. We're supposed to make up our lists. If there's room in the classes we want we'll get placed in them. Then the office will assign us a locker."

"Do you know if they're going to follow the tradition of having us take our shoes off?" Minako asked.

"It's a more Western style school," Usagi said. "I think that we'll be keeping them on."

"That will feel very strange," Ami said. The bus pulled up and the girls got on. They passed the ride in silence, each caught up in her own thoughts about the new school year.

The bus stopped a block from the Academy. The girls hopped off and walked up the street. Haruka and Michiru were waiting for them when they got there. "We thought we'd come early today so we could see what you were taking," Haruka said as Michiru greeted the younger girls warmly. Haruka was dressed, as always, in boyish clothes. She had on a pair of dark brown slacks and a gold blouse.

"You're also in luck," Michiru added in her soft voice. "There are only about thirty other people here right now."

"Let's go while the crowds are down," Ami suggested. The six girls walked into the school.

"Hey, coz, what are you doing here?" a cheerful voice called in accented Japanese.

Usagi's face lit up and she turned to greet the tall, blonde-haired boy that came up to enfold her in a bear hug. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt that screamed that he was American. "Tran! What are you doing here?"

"I'm an exchange student," Tran said. "I was supposed to go to Juuban High, but since they were starting a school that's closer to what I'm used to they said I could attend it instead." He smiled at her friends, who were staring at him in surprise. "Why don't you introduce me?"

Usagi blushed and turned around as Tran let her go. "This is my twin brother Tran," she said. "I call him my cousin because he's the adopted son of my mom's best friend in America. It's a long story, and I'll tell it later. We need to get our schedules."

"So do I," Tran said. "I just got here. Some of my friends are here as student teachers this year and they're running late. They just dropped me off so they could go park their car." He shook his head. "And it's actually not their fault they're late. There was a small accident down by the apartments."

"Was anyone hurt?" Usagi asked anxiously.

"Not that I saw," Tran said. "It just looked like someone lost control of their car and it ended up on the sidewalk. The cars were stacking up behind it because no one wanted to hit it."

The group approached a large table. "Names please," a pleasant young woman dressed in a navy blue suit said.

"Tsukino Usagi." The lady looked through her list and handed Usagi a packet of papers. The others gave their names and got a similar packet of information. They drifted over to one side. It didn't take long to read through the stuff.

"Let's go to the cafeteria," Michiru suggested. "There are tables out there where you can sit and fill out the paperwork."

The girls and Tran settled down at one of the long tables and pulled out their pens. They began to fill out the information. "I didn't think there were so many different types of Math and Science," Usagi said.

"What are you going to take?" Tran asked.

"Algebra," Usagi said. "And I'm going to take Geography. It looks like it'll be more useful than some of the others."

"I'm taking Trigonometry and Chemistry," Tran said.

"I'm taking Trigonometry and Advanced Biology," Ami said.

"Algebra and Ornithology," Minako said. "I love birds, and I took Biology last year at school. What about you, Mako?"

"I'm taking Algebra and Geography," Makoto said. "I'm not all that fond of math and science." Everyone laughed. The class requests were rapidly finished. The friends turned them in and waited while their schedules were generated by the computer. They were handed their schedules and the combinations to their lockers.

"Your first class will start in half an hour," the scheduler told them. "Have a great day!"

"Let's see," Usagi said, showing her schedule. The others pulled theirs out to compare them. "Well, at least I have one friend in Algebra with me. And Home Ec. Then I don't see any of you until Study Hall, and that's Tran."

"You'll see them at lunch, fuzz head," Tran said with a laugh. "All of us have lunch after the fourth hour."

"Are you going to be joining us?" Ami asked curiously.

"I guess I could," Tran said. He sighed. "I don't really know anyone here except for Usagi. Well, and now you girls."

"You're welcome to join us any time," Minako said. She turned to Haruka and Michiru. "What do your schedules look like?"

"We've got some similar classes to you guys," Michiru said. "We're just in a higher level. Our lunch is after the fifth hour."

"Then we'll see you after school," Usagi said. The two older girls waved and hurried off. The rest scattered to find their lockers and their first classes.

Lunch time came and Minako and Usagi ran into each other on their way down. Their topic of conversation was the woman who'd been there as the student teacher for their Choir class. They joined the others, all of whom had brought their lunches, and settled at a single table near the windows. "We met someone really interesting in Choir," Usagi said as she started eating.

"Was it one of the student teachers?" Ami asked interestedly.

Usagi nodded, her mouth full of rice. Minako swallowed her juice and picked up the narrative. "She was really tall, with olive skin and green hair. She had really odd gold eyes. She also had a funny accent. She explained that she was from Greece, and that this was her second year in Japan. She said she learned Japanese from a woman who taught on the military base where her father was a general in the Greek National Army."

"Oh, so that's what Aria got saddled into teaching," Tran said with a grin. "I know she wasn't happy about getting 'volunteered' for this by her fiancé, but she accepted the assignment anyway." He frowned in thought. "I _think_ Toni's probably going to be teaching 3-D Art, since that's his main focus. But I don't know about the rest of that crowd. I do know they're teaching here though."

"Usagi, look!" Ami's voice was hushed and she was pointing to a table full of what appeared to be teachers.

All the girls turned to look, as did Tran. Tran laughed. "Those are my friends," he said. "They're the ones baby-sitting me while I'm in Japan. At least, that's what mom and dad told them to do. I think they sort of forgot that you guys still lived in the area, Usagi."

"That's possible," Usagi said, still watching the small group of teachers. "I mean, it's been three years since we saw them."

"But there's something else bugging you," Tran said, reading his sister easily.

"Yeah," Usagi said. "Remember all that trouble I had about three years ago?"

"I do," Tran said. "I think I still have most if not all of your e-mails from that time stored on disk."

"The guys look almost exactly like the people we were fighting," Usagi told him.

"I don't know about that," Tran said. "If you want, you girls can stick around after school to meet them. They're my ride home."

"I think that might be a good idea," Minako said thoughtfully. "Hey Usagi, there's our Choir teacher."

"That's Ariadne Nikos," Tran said. "She's studying at the Tokyo Academy for the Arts to be a singer. She's also an avid motorcycle racer. She's pretty cool."

"She looks cool," Usagi said. "I mean, she's wearing leather!"

Tran laughed. "She either wears denim or leather. That's just her style."

"So who are the others?" Makoto asked curiously.

"The guy with white hair is Antonio Giradetti. He's from Italy, and he's Aria's fiancé," Tran said. "He's the one I'm betting is teaching an art class. He's studying 3-D art at the art academy. The one next to him is Katsuhiko Matsuo, the only Japanese native out of the group. He's a math and computer nut, so I'm betting he's the student teacher for one of those subjects. Jayden Carpenter is the short haired guy with the funky tie sitting next to Matsuo. He's really big on birds. That's how I met him, in fact. My mom's got a huge collection of tropical birds, and Jayden's father is the local vet. Jayden started coming with him to check out mom's pets when they were having problems. Jay's probably teaching Ornithology or Horticulture, since those are his major hobbies and his field of study." Tran finished scarfing his lunch. "Um, the last one is Zander Montclair. He's from France. His parents are major scientific types, but he's more interested in reading weird books and acting."

"How long have you known them?" Minako asked.

"Three, maybe four years," Tran said. "Jay's always been around somewhere, but I didn't meet him until the end of that mess you guys had over here. Jay's parents introduced mine to the rest of his friends over the Christmas break."

"It is possible that, after the destruction of the Dark Kingdom, the Generals were returned to Earth with new lives and no memories," Ami said thoughtfully. "Much as we were."

"Hrm," Makoto said. A warning bell rang. "Whoops. Let's go!"

"See you out in front of the office after school?" Usagi asked as she grabbed her lunch box.

"See you!" Everyone scattered for their classes.


End file.
